1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a design system for designing the shapes of the lenses of eyeglasses (hereinafter referred to as eyeglass lenses) and the shapes of the front rims of eyeglass frames.
2. Discussion of Related Art
In the industry of manufacturing eyeglass frames, eyeglass frames and the peripheral shape of eyeglass lenses to be fitted into the eyeglass frames have conventionally been designed without careful consideration of facial differences of individual consumers who wear the eyeglasses. Therefore, standardized eyeglasses having a uniform style have been manufactured on a large scale and distributed to consumers via retailers.
Each individual has unique facial features as well as the individual's own aesthetic sense and design preferences, and therefore, designing of eyeglasses should be carried out by taking into account of the facial features of each individual and his or her aesthetic sense. However, in the present circumstances, manufacturers and retailers of eyeglasses have only tried to satisfy consumers' needs by blindly providing numerous eyeglass frames of various designs and different sizes.
Accordingly, consumers are forced to select and purchase eyeglass lenses and frames uniformly designed for mass production, the designing of which is carried out without considering the facial features of individual consumers and their aesthetic senses.
The above problem is partly caused by the production system and the control system for machine tools used in the production system, which are designed for manufacturing uniform products at a low cost.
Accordingly, there remained a need for a design system for designing shapes of eyeglasses based on personal information of facial characteristics.